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Mortus-class Star Dreadnought
__TOC__ Details of Function The Mortus-class Star Dreadnaught is designed for the specific role of engaging and destroying other capital ships at long range. It is the first mainline production organotechnological hybrid ship, and thus incorporates many new technologies. The Mortus-class Star Dreadnaught utilizes added yorik coral armor to increase its survivability under fire, dovin basals to augment the shielding and propulsion systems and act as gravity well generators, point-defense acid spore launchers to defend against projectiles, magnetic-acceleration mass drivers to provide another method of attack with an indefinite range, and a shipmind to provide an unparalleled level of interaction between the commander and his ship. The yorik coral armor gives the hull a total resistance to penetration of about 1.6 times that of an Executor-class Star Dreadnaught. The dovin basals create a gravity well approximately 18 kilometers in radius, which thus extends slightly beyond the Dreadnaught itself and creates a substantial shielding effect. Due to the high number of dovin basals installed, the heavy dovin basals can be used for propulsion while the medium ones remain active for shielding, although the Dreadnaught cannot then reach top speed and the protective radius drops to 10 kilometers, leaving considerable portions of the ship unprotected. By diverting all dovin basals to propulsion, the Dreadnaught can reach a top speed of 1350 G, although it must then rely only on its shields and armor for protection. Point-defense acid spore launchers are slow-recharging organisms that launch clouds of spores that can eat through missiles to complement point-defense laser targeted attacks with an area defense. They cannot damage yorik coral and therefore can only affect the Dreadnaught’s hull if the coral over it has been blasted away. The magnetic-accleration mass drivers, since they use unguided projectiles incapable of changing course, are less accurate than proton torpedo batteries but have larger and more diverse magazines and an indefinite range, since once accelerated the projectiles keep going until they meet enough resistance to change their course or stop them. The shipmind provides unprecedented interaction between the commander, his bridge crew, and the ship, keeping track of all the micromanagement tasks, optimizing every individual part of every individual system, informing the commander instantly of any problems, and providing a very different strategic perspective. The shipmind’s ability to micromanage systems on its own allows the crew of the Mortus-class to be only three-fourths that of an Executor-class Star Dreadnought, although the complement of gunners is greater due to its increased armament, and the ship requires a team of bioengineering specialists to check its organic systems. One of the greatest advantages of the shipmind is the unprecedented fire-control it offers, allowing every battery in the Dreadnaught’s broadside armament to fire at a single point, maximizing the chance of rapidly breaking through a target’s shields. Generally, the mass drivers are fired a split second after the energy weapons, much like a concussion missile stagger-fire strategy, to that they impact directly on the now unprotected hull of the enemy ship. The Mortus-class Star Dreadnaught takes advantage of its size to employ multiple hangars filled with “Vongformed” TIE series starfighters, especially TIE Defenders, usually in excess of 1,000, to act as a screening element to prevent enemy ships from closing, as such a large number of proton torpedo-equipped starfighters is enough to make even the bravest capital ship commander think twice about coming closer to the Mortus-class Star Dreadnaught Appearance In keeping with its role as a long-range gunship, the Mortus-class Star Dreadnaught is built to maximize its broadside firepower. Resembling a slightly shorter Executor-class Star Dreadnaught turned on its side in shape, the Mortus-class mounts approximately 40 percent of its weaponry on each side (800 turbolaser and heavy turbolaser cannons, 40 proton torpedo tubes, 100 heavy ion cannons, and 30 mass driver cannon), with 10 percent (200 turbolaser and heavy turbolaser cannons, 10 proton torpedo tubes, 25 heavy ion cannons, and 5 mass driver cannons) devoted to front and rear, with tractor beams and point-defense systems evenly distributed. The Fixed Super Heavy Magnetic-Acceleration Mass Driver Cannons are all forward facing and are distributed amid ship, each one capable of slinging a 50 kiloton neuranium slug at one half the speed of light. A large bulge amidships on each side holds the heavy dovin basals (5 per side), while smaller emplacements along the ship hold the medium dovin basals (2 per emplacement, 6 emplacements per side along length), and a single medium dovin basal protects the bridge. Most of the forward broadside armament can also be targeted to fire forward in addition to the dedicated bow batteries, in which case the forward firepower is upped to 25 percent of total (500 turbolaser and heavy turbolaser cannons, 25 proton torpedo tubes, 62 heavy ion cannons, and 15 mass driver cannons), but the power of each broadside drops to 32.5 percent of total (650 turbolaser and heavy turbolaser cannons, 32 proton torpedo tubes, 81 heavy ion cannons, and 19 mass driver cannons). The ship is slightly smaller than an Executor-class Star Dreadnaught, at 17.5 kilometers in length, but masses approximately the same due to the additional systems crammed into it. Trivia The ship was designed by Ben Serber for the Incom Corporation back during Universe 1.0. However, few there were, they were deemed unfit for Universe 1.5 and were permanently banned from any battles. Category:Ships Category:Dreadnaughts Category:Ship Classes